On today’s program, sponsored by HII, Byron Callan of the independent Washington research firm Capital Alpha Partners discusses the latest headlines and looks at the week ahead with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian.
While the White House and Congress wrangle over NASA’s budget and the fate of the Space Launch System, China is unwavering in laying the foundation for its expansion into the space domain, including on the moon. Laura Winter speaks with Josh Carslon, author of the book, “Spacepower Ascendant: Space Development Theory and a New Space Strategy”.
On this week’s Defense & Aerospace Report Business Roundtable, sponsored by Bell, Dr. “Rocket” Ron Epstein of Bank of America Securities, Sash Tusa of the independent equity research firm Agency Partners, and Richard Aboulafia of the AeroDynamic advisory consultancy join host Vago Muradian to discuss another bull-market high on Wall Street; President Trump’s demand the EU accept 15-20 percent minimum tariffs by Aug. 1 as Brussels prepares to retaliate with higher taxes on American aircraft, bourbon and cars; the US administration says it’s netted $64 billion in tariff revenue since the start of the year; Embraer’s warning that new taxes would increase regional aircraft unit costs for aircraft sold in America by $9 million; despite economic worries, Delta and United announce soaring profits and reinstate their bullish air travel guidance; GE Aerospace and Saab earnings as defense and aerospace firms prepare to follow suit; British Prime Minister Sir Kier Starmer meets with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz; and President Trump says he will sell weapons to NATO nations for shipment to Ukraine.
On this week’s Defense & Aerospace Report Washington Roundtable, Dr. Patrick Cronin of the Hudson Institute think tank, Michael Herson of American Defense International, former Pentagon Europe chief Jim Townsend of the Center for a New American Security, former Pentagon comptroller Dr. Dov Zakheim of the Center for Strategic and International Studies join Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian to discuss Senate Republicans’ move to rescind $9 billion in approved funding for foreign aid and public broadcasting; the House Armed Services Committee’s NDAA markup as the Senate Armed Services Committee filed their version of the bill; President Trump’s decision to sell arms to NATO members that would pass the weapons to Ukraine and 50-day deadline to make a peace deal otherwise Moscow would face stiff primary and secondary sanctions; the meeting between British Prime Minister Sir Kier Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz; France’s new national security strategy; the de-escalating US-China trade war as a possible summit looms; Japan’s Defense White Paper ahead of important Upper House election Sunday; China-Australia trade ties as war games and defense pressures mount; Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu’s eroding coalition; Israel’s strikes on Syria to prompt the country’s interim leader to protect the country’s Druze minority; and the rising death toll in Gaza rises as a Hamas deal remains elusive.
With a fleet of 160 fighters, the French Air and Space Force maintains global presence while demands increase. How do they do it, and what’s next? We get the answers – along with fascinating details of French space policy and activities – with France’s fighter aviation chief, Brigadier General Pierre Gaudilliere. Plus top headlines in airpower. Powered by GE!
On today’s Technology Report, sponsored by Elbit America, Michael Greenman, the senior manager for cloud solutions at enterprise software firm Deltek, joins Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian to discuss what’s next as Pentagon prepares to implement the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification process to bolster US defense industrial base cyber security.
Sam Bendett of the Center for Naval Analyses joins Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian to discuss the latest on the Ukraine war as President Trump agrees to sell weapons to NATO nations to better support Kyiv and warns Moscow that severe sanctions will be imposed by the United States in 50 days unless a peace deal is struck; the evolving nature of the drone war between Ukrainian and Russian forces that include using fishing nets to block small air vehicles; how Ukraine is using UAVs to intercept other UAVs; and analysis of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s new “drone dominance” strategy.
On today’s Look Ahead program, sponsored by HII, Byron Callan of the independent Washington research firm Capital Alpha Partners joins Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian to discuss President Trump’s abrupt threat of against higher tariffs on the EU, Mexico, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Brazil and others unless they accept his trade terms by Aug. 1 and its impact on the Defnese and aerospace ecosystem; Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s “drone dominance” guidance and whether it will accelerate the fielding of novel unmanned capabilities; what the unfounded priorities lists submitted by the US military services to Congress say about the administration’s budget; what to expect this week from appropriations hearings; second quarter outlays; what it will take to quadruple production of PAC-3 air and missile defense weapons; and a look at the week ahead.
With Wall Street indices at new highs, plus a roughly $40B FY 2026 budget for the U.S. Space Force, and the tens of billions the Trump Administration wants to spend on the missile defense program “Golden Dome,” is it time to pop the champagne? Laura Winter speaks with The DownLink Podcast regulars Chris Quilty, founder of Quilty Space; and George Pullen, Partner and Chief Economist at MilkyWayEconomy.
On this week’s Defense & Aerospace Report Business Roundtable, sponsored by Bell, Dr. “Rocket” Ron Epstein of Bank of America Securities, Sash Tusa of the independent equity research firm Agency Partners, and Richard Aboulafia of the AeroDynamic advisory consultancy join host Vago Muradian to discuss another record Wall Street hit another high on Nvidia’s $4 trillion valuation; President Trump’s pledged to hit the EU and Mexico with 30 percent tariffs until they — and other countries like Canada, Japan, South Korea, Brazil — agree to his demands by Aug 1; efforts to establish a global free-trade system that excludes the United States; Britain and France strike a historic nuclear cooperation agreement to protect Europe without the United States; Europe’s MARTE program to develop a new tank; Dassault makes clear for the latest time that it and it alone will lead the French, German, Spanish and Belgian SCAF program to develop a new family of combat air systems; Denmark orders more F-35 Lighting II fighters from Lockheed Martin on the heels of Britain’s order for 10 more jets under it’s umbrella commitment to 138 of the stealthy planes; Peru’s decision to buy 24 Gripen E/F jets from Saab instead of Dassault Rafales or Lockheed’s F-16V; Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s “drone dominance” guidance that would accelerate US unmanned efforts by allowing field grade officers to buy unmanned systems; US military services ask Congress to fund programs that weren’t supported by the administration in its recent budget request; and interim findings by investigators probing the Air India crash that found pilots briefly cut off the fuel flow to both of the jet’s engines leading to the crash of the heavily loaded 787 jetliner, killing 260.